Aaron London of Al’s Place is opening a new Mission...

1of2The interior of Yuzuki, the restaurant on the corner of 18th and Guerrero that is being taken over by Aaron London of Al’s Place.Photo: John Storey / Special to The Chronicle

2of2The corner of 18th and Guerrero will be home to a new restaurant named Al’s Deli.Photo: John Storey / John Storey

Last week, news broke that one of the Mission’s best restaurants, Yuzuki, was closing at the end of March.

Today, the other shoe drops on the future of the Yuzuki space, which located on the popular corner of 18th and Guerrero, right across from Tartine Bakery: Aaron London is taking it over.

London is the chef-owner of Al’s Place, the celebrated vegetable-focused restaurant a few blocks away on 26th and Valencia. It was named the Best New Restaurant in America in 2015, and currently holds a Michelin star.

For his next project, London will open Al’s Deli, a more casual restaurant/sandwich shop that will be a mishmash of various influences, but namely East Coast delis (especially New York and Montreal, two cities where he has lived) and Israeli street food.

Chef/owner Aaron London of Al's Place is opening up Al’s Deli.

Photo: Russell Yip / The Chronicle 2015

The idea, London says, is to use those influences create “new dishes that are neither (cuisine) and not authentic to either, but represent present-day Americana.” For example, he has been playing with ideas like stuffed latkes, cooked to order. Maybe one will be stuffed with cream cheese, lox, cucumber, tomato, capers and “loads of black pepper.” Another might be made with avocado and pistachios (“It takes avocado toast and smashes it out of the water”); perhaps one will be filled with meat.

The menu will be relatively concise, rounded out with salads, sides and sandwiches, the latter made with fresh pita bread. There will also be larger platters fit for multiple people or small families — items like a pound of Montreal-style smoked meat served alongside fixings and malawach, a laminated Yemeni flatbread.

Al’s Deli won’t be a full-service, sit-down restaurant, but more in line with a fast-casual mode of service.

The goal is to open this summer, following a quick renovation of the Yuzuki space.

Paolo Lucchesi is the San Francisco Chronicle’s Inside Scoop columnist. He covers all breaking restaurant news in the Bay Area, from openings and closings to chef gossip and other food media. Before coming to The Chronicle food section, he served as the founding editor of Eater San Francisco, which launched in fall 2007, and later Eater National, which launched in fall 2009.